Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.06), Briefing.com reports. Liberty Energy had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 26.46%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Liberty Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Liberty Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LBRT opened at $22.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.68. Liberty Energy has a 1 year low of $11.62 and a 1 year high of $23.31.

Liberty Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Liberty Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Liberty Energy from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Liberty Energy from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Liberty Energy

In other news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,479,865. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider R Sean Elliott sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 218,530 shares in the company, valued at $4,479,865. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Kimble sold 12,459 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.55, for a total value of $268,491.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,507,702.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 98,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,077,491. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Liberty Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Liberty Energy by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,972,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,183 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Liberty Energy by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,720,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,187 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,553,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,948,000 after purchasing an additional 734,764 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 181.5% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 8,085,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,574,000 after purchasing an additional 5,213,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Liberty Energy by 47.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,528,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417,129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Liberty Energy Company Profile

Liberty Energy Inc provides hydraulic services and related technologies to onshore oil and natural gas exploration, and production companies in North America. The company offers hydraulic fracturing services, including complementary services, such as wireline services, proppant delivery solutions, field gas processing and treating, compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery, data analytics, related goods comprising sand mine operations, and technologies; and well site fueling and logistics.